Sorrow
by Calai'di
Summary: Song-fic for Pink Floyd's "Sorrow" and maybe another. Merik escapes from the Shadow Realm to try and win Malik's love. shonen-aiyaoi, possible lemonlime
1. An Amazing Change

Calai'di: Just too many ideas!!! And this is my thirteenth fic! Aghhh, evil number! Don't strike me down!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh! Nope, but I wish I did (Ryou and Bakura would be around more, that's for sure) I also do not own Pink Floyd's _Sorrow_ (good song, that is).

Note: Merik is the yami; Malik is the "good" one.

Thank you, Nachzes Black-Rider, for beta-ing! 'Tis appreciated.

Warning: Ah, yaoi in the first chap! And it'll just get worse. (smiles)

* * *

Chapter 1: An Amazing Change__

---The sweet smell of a great sorrow lies over the land

Plumes of smoke rise and merge into the leaden sky…---

Malik sighed as he stared over the edge of the bridge to the river below. Ever since the end of Battle City, there hadn't been much to do. Isis had forced him to move here and had enrolled him in the same school Yugi and his friends went to, but he didn't like school very much, and he missed the hot desert sun of Cairo terribly. He didn't know Yugi very well, and he knew the Pharaoh didn't like him very much. The only real friend he had was Bakura, but he'd disappeared somewhere, probably searching for another Millennium Item.

__

_There just isn't anything interesting to do anymore,_ Malik thought sadly. _At least when I was with the Rare Hunters, I always had something to do...._

A sudden, thundering _BANG_ drew the Egyptian out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see where it had come from; a billow of smoke was languidly making it way up out of the city. There were a few more blasts, and he could hear several different people's screams, and suddenly, Yami was running toward him.

"Malik! You have to come quickly!" the pharaoh shouted long before he reached the teen.

"What do you want, Pharaoh?" Malik answered dully, turning to look at the river again. "You might have noticed I'm a bit busy here."

"Staring at an unmoving river is 'being busy'?" Yami asked skeptically. The look Malik gave him told him plainly that the statement had been sarcastic. "Well, whatever. Come on, I need your help!"

"What do you want _my_ help for? Go ask your other friends, like Jonouchi or Kaiba."

"No, I need _your_ help. Your dark side showed up again."

"What?!" Malik turned and ran painfully back into the bridge's railing. "What do you mean he showed up again?!"

"Exactly what I said. Now come on!" Yami grabbed him by the wrist and started running toward the smoke-covered section of the city. Malik had no chance to fight back, though he desperately wanted to. It had been bad enough having Merik in laughing in the back of his head for the past five or so years, worse to have been possessed and shoved out of his body by him, so getting rid of him had probably been the best thing in the world. He didn't want to think about what could happen if they met again, especially since he was mostly responsible for sending Merik to the Shadow Realm. He couldn't even begin to imagine how the psychopath had gotten free.

They rounded the last corner to find a scene of destruction. Cars were sticking out of buildings, giant holes dotted the pavement, and a couple of fire hydrants had been broken and were now spraying fountains of water into the air. And standing in the middle of this devastation, laughing like a maniac to the sky, was Merik himself.

"What's he doing here?" Malik stuttered quietly. _He's supposed to be in the Shadow Realm…He was supposed to never bother me again!_

"That's what I'd like to know," Yami answered. "But first we have to stop him from causing any more damage."

"How? I don't have the Rod anymore, and I doubt you've been carrying it around."

"Actually…" Yami reached into his jacket and pulled out a golden staff. "You never know when it might be needed."

Malik was about to take the Rod from Yami's hand when he noticed it was suddenly very quiet. Merik had stopped laughing, and he was now staring at the two teens as if waiting to see what they would do. When he noticed they'd noticed him, he stepped forward, heading straight for Malik.

"Hello, my former host," he said calmly. Malik backed up slowly as the figure approached, wincing as his back hit a light pole.

"Go away, Merik. You can't hurt me anymore; you're not even supposed to be here…."

"No?" Merik stopped as he reached the teen, their bodies so close they were almost touching. "I don't want to hurt you, Malik."

The teen shivered at how close their bodies were and looked away. "Please leave me alone."

"I can't do that." Merik ran one of his hands over Malik chest while the other raised to caress his cheek. Malik stared up at his yami with total confusion.

"Merik, what are you doing?" he stuttered, squirming to get away from the yami.

::Don't fight me, hikari,:: said Merik's voice in his head. Malik almost screamed in fright but somehow managed to remain calm. :Why? You've done nothing but hurt me in the past. Why should I believe–:

He was cut off abruptly when warm lips touched his own. Unwittingly, he moaned softly and returned the kiss, pressing his body against his yami's. Why was Merik doing this? He'd never liked his pathetic, weak, sentimental hikari before, and he'd taken so much pleasure in trying to send Malik to the Shadow Realm. Merik's tongue darted into his counter part's mouth almost hesitantly, then again, as his fingers ran up and down the teen's chest.

But it was all too much for Malik. He was confused as to why Merik would suddenly be treating him like this, and he was scared for the same reason. With a single movement, he pushed the yami off and tripped a couple of times as ran away down the street.


	2. Pancakes

Calai'di: Well, I wouldn't really call it a spoiler, but for people who don't know about Malik's past it would be. (Okay, so is the whole story) There are mentions of Malik's past. That's all I'm saying.

Oh yeah…Thanks and kudos to Nachzes for beta-ing and reviewing! What would I do with out her?

* * *

Chapter 2: Pancakes (Yum…)

__

---A man lies and dreams of green fields and rivers,

But awakes to a morning with no reason for waking…---

Malik groaned as he woke from a rather nice dream and turned over to stare at the clock. 8:45. It was nice that he didn't have school on Sundays; it let him sleep in a bit. But his euphoria didn't last long as memories of the day before flooded his thoughts. It actually hadn't felt that bad to be kissed by his yami, it felt right somehow, but that scared him even more than Merik did. He didn't want to feel anything but hate for the bastard that nearly ruined his life.

The small of pancakes reached his nose, and he figured that was what had woken him up in the first place. It seemed to be coming from the kitchen, though he couldn't think of why. Isis didn't live with him anymore, though maybe she had come over for a visit. Who cared? It was food. He got up, pulled on sweatpants and a T-shirt, and headed down the hall to the kitchen.

The pancake-smell grew stronger as Malik approached the kitchen, but he couldn't hear any sounds coming from inside, and Isis always talked to herself when she thought no one was listening. Pancakes couldn't make themselves…could they? Still wondering about this, he pushed open the kitchen door and stood stack still.

Merik was in his kitchen.

Merik was in his kitchen, humming Pink Floyd.

Merik was in his kitchen, humming Pink Floyd, and making pancakes.

"Oh, good morning, Hikari," Merik said brightly once he noticed Malik's presence. He shifted positions slightly, giving the teen a better view of the stove. "Look! I made us pancakes!"

__

He seems really proud of himself, was regrettably the first thing Malik thought. The yami turned away and back to his pancakes.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up," he said as he flipped the pancakes. "I've been up for about two hours."

Malik stared at him apprehensively. "And you were _here_ when you woke up?"

"Of course."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Malik demanded suddenly, catching his yami by surprise. "You're not even supposed to be out of the Shadow Realm, much less in my house!"

Merik seemed to ignore him as he got out plates and piled pancakes onto them.

"Can't you get a _hint_ that I hate you?!"

"But I made you pancakes," Merik argued, placing the plates down on the table across from each other. "Do you want syrup? I think I know what that is. It's that sweet stuff that's like honey, only not quite, right?"

"Uh, yeah." _Why is he here!!! And…he made me pancakes! What is with that?_ "Why are you here?" he asked, think to start over again.

"Because I wanted to know why you ran away from me yesterday," Merik answered with his head still inside the refrigerator. Presently, he stood up again, holding a bottle of purple liquid. "What is this?"

"Boysenberry syrup," Malik answered, dropping heavily into his seat. Didn't he just say why he'd run away? Because he hated the bastard?

"That sounds…odd." Merik carried the bottle back to the table, sat down, and dumped about half of it on his pile of pancakes. He smiled around his fork as he tasted the new concoction. "Mmmm, this is good."

Malik wasn't sure if he should be scared for his life or amused. His psychopathic yami was sitting here eating pancakes and acting like a six-year old, seemingly very harmless. But he wasn't above suspicion. "Did you poison these or something?"

"Moh."

"You didn't kill Yugi or Pharaoh or someone and put their blood in them, did you?"

Merik swallowed and looked thoughtful. "No. Good idea though. I'll have to do that sometime."

Malik sighed and took a bite of his pancakes. Wow, these were really good. His hand darted forward, grabbed the syrup, and dumped about half of the rest on his food.

* * *

"So, you didn't answer my question," Merik said casually, leaning back in his chair. Malik shivered and looked away, right now, the yami was acting a _lot_ like he remembered.

"Yes, I did."

"You mean when you said you hated me?"

"I still do." The hikari glared at his other and scooted his chair back from the table a bit, just to prove his point.

"Why do you hate me, Hikari?" the yami asked almost sadly, cocking his head a bit.

"Why? WHY?" Malik felt like he was about to explode with anger again; how could Merik think he _wouldn't_ be hated. "I'll tell you why. You possessed me, pushed me out of my own body even, nearly sent me to the Shadow Realm too many times to count, killed my father–" He stopped, breathing heavily; that was not something he'd wanted to remember. "The list goes on! How could I _not_ hate you?!"

"Oh." Merik stared at the floor thoughtfully, thinking of what to say next. "I thought I was helping you, when I killed your father. The bastard deserved what he got. Though–" he smirked and stood up, running his fingers lightly over the tabletop as he came closer to Malik– "I suppose I should have thanked him before he died. He was the reason I was created after all."

"M-Merik…what are you doing?" Malik stuttered as the yami leaned over him.

"May I possess you again?"

"NO!" Malik pushed away with such intensity that his chair fell backwards and he landed on his back. Merik was on him in an instant, kissing his neck over and over, but the hikari couldn't take it. With extreme force, he pushed the yami off and ran out of the room into the living room.

__

Why is he doing this? Malik wondered fearfully as he glanced back at the door. _Why doesn't he hate me anymore?_

"Hikari?" Merik stepped into the living room, a saddened expression on his face. "What can I do so you don't hate me anymore?"

"Leave!"

The yami scoffed at this. "That was obvious, and obviously I'm not going to. What else?"

"Maybe if you said you're sorry for what you did–"

"But I'm not. Well, not much anyway."

"Then I don't know. Surprise me." With that, he brushed past Merik and walked briskly to his room.


	3. Going to School?

Calai'di: Yay, three reviews on the last chap and not all from Nachzes! (no offence intended).  
Thank you to:  
puffin (reviewer)  
Dark Mysteries (unsigned reviewer)  
Nachzes-Black Rider (for beta-ing. Thank you!!!!!)

* * *

Chapter 3: Going to School?__

---He's haunted by the memory of a lost paradise,

In his youth or a dream, he can't be precise…---

"All right, hikari, what are we doing here?" Merik grumbled as he stared up at the building before them.

"This, Merik, is a school. And as it is Monday, we come here to learn things and rack our brains out with boredom."

"Exactly. _Why_ are we _here_?"

It was now Monday, the day every sane student is supposed to dread, and Malik had decided that if he had to suffer through school, Merik had to also, especially if he wanted to gain Malik's affection.

Ever since their conversation the previous day, Merik had tried his hardest to get his hikari to like at least a little bit; he'd made lunch, played music and sang, didn't kill Yami when he came over, washed the dishes, cleaned the apartment, made dinner, and even tried to help with unfinished homework, though he had no clue what he was doing. Malik had to admit that it was pretty cute and rather funny, especially when the Pharaoh had showed up and Merik kept twitching as he tried not to kill either Yami or himself. Nonetheless, the hikari still locked his door that night and forced his yami to sleep on the couch.

Malik sighed and frowned sternly at his yami. "We are here to _learn_, Merik. That's what a school is _for_. Duh."

"Then why am _I_ here?" Merik whined as Malik pulled him into the building. "I don't go to school."

"You will if you want me," Malik argued as he pulled to still struggling yami to the office. "Now go in there and tell them you just moved here and you'll be going here now. Trust me, it works." He pushed Merik through the door and waved once as he strode down the hall. "See you later."

Merik stared at his hikari's receding back. Was he helping his yami on purpose or just to be nice? Did he sound happy they'd see each other later? _Maybe he doesn't hate me as much as he says he does,_ he thought as he walked up to the desk.

"Hello, can I help you?" asked the all-too-cheerful secretary sitting behind the desk.

__

_I'd like to kill you, actually. It should be a crime to be that happy._ "I'm, uh, I just moved here…from, uh, Egypt. And I'll be going here now, I guess."

"Okay!" the secretary chirped before pulling out a bunch of papers. As she handed them to Merik, she went on, "Just fill these out and bring them back when you're done!"

__

_I wish I could kill you,_ Merik thought as he took the papers and a pen and sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby. He stared down at the forms in his hands, trying to discern the Japanese writing.

"Uh…oh! 'Name', Merik Ishtar, duh." At this he glared at the still happy, very ignorant secretary. "'Age', uh, how old is Malik again…" He thought about this for a few moments before shrugging and writing "16" down on the paper. In fact, he was stunned that he could write at all, since he'd never personally learned how to do it. "'Address of Current Residence'. What the hell is that supposed to mean?" ::Hey, Malik?::

: … :

::Malik? Please answer me.::

:What do you want? I'm busy.:

::You were asleep.::

:Hey, if the teachers want us to pay attention in school, they shouldn't have us get up so early.:

::…Right…What does 'Address of Current Residence' mean?::

: …You really don't know?:

::No.::

:Where we live.:

::Oh.:: Merik stared at the paper again and frowned. ::Where is that?::

: … Oh fine.: Malik gave the address for his apartment and shut the link down. But almost a second later, Merik spoke up again.

::Malik, what would I put for 'Previous School'?::

Merik heard his hikari sigh exasperatedly through the mink link. :The Cairo Institute of Arabic Study (1). Happy?:

::No. What allergies do you have?::

There was another sigh. :Do you want me to answer everything on those forms for you?:

::That would help, yes.::

:Fine.:

* * *

After what seemed like three hours, Merik finally stood up and walked back to the secretary's desk where said secretary was now seeing if she could stand on an egg without making it break. She'd already broken about fifty and by the looks of it, had just broken another one under the book she'd been using.

"Hello! What can I do for you?" she asked as Merik approached.

__

_Die._ "I finished the forms," Merik answered dryly. _Malik is _so_ going to pay for this._

"Oh! So you did!" said the woman as she took the papers. "I thought you looked somewhat familiar!" She read over the forms, occasionally typing something into the computer and whispering the whole time. Merik suspected she was either completely insane or mental retarded and wished again that she could die. He was caught off guard when she shoved another paper in his face. "Here, this is your schedule, and your supplies list, and a planner, and–well, I'm sure you'll look through it all. Yearbook pictures are on the fifteenth of this month. Now you should probably get to class. Later, Mr. Ishtar!"

Merik staggered out of the room trying to organize the pile off stuff in his hands at least a little bit. He pulled his schedule out, which appeared to be something that told him what classes he had, and it told him he had lunch right now. In the cafeteria. Wherever that was….

* * *

1) Good name for a school, right? And it's completely made up. 


	4. The Cafeteria

Chapter 4: The Cafeteria

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---He's chained forever to a world that's departed

It's not enough, it's not enough…---

Malik sighed as he sat down next to Yugi at lunch. He hadn't learned a thing all morning because Merik couldn't fill out a stupid school form. Though that may not have been his fault; he'd never been able to learn those things after all. And Malik wondered whether he should have mentioned some of the other students that went to Domino High.

Merik walked into the cafeteria about fifteen minutes into the lunch period. Whatever that meant. And he still really wanted to kill the mental retard that claimed the title of secretary.

He glanced around the lunchroom, finally spotting his hikari sitting at a table near the back, and started walking towards him. They locked eyes and he stared walking faster. Anything to sit next to his hikari as soon as possible. But unfortunately, the other students blocked most of the rest of the table from view until he got there…and what a nasty shock that was. A white-haired head leaned over the table and claimed Malik's attention, seemly asking about something behind him; Malik laughed and answered casually and almost seductively. They both ended up laughing. And then Merik spotted a mass of tri-colored hair sitting next to the white-haired one and he dropped all his stuff about a foot from the table.

"What are you two doing here?" he exclaimed, staring at Bakura and Yami.

"What, _Merik_?!" Bakura exclaimed, whipping his head around to stare at the platinum-haired fiend. His next statement was oddly in sync with Yami. "What are you doing here?!"

Merik glared at Malik and began picking up his stuff. "Well, someone's been withholding information…Malik…."

Bakura and Yami stared at the hikari in question as he scooted over to give Merik room to sit down.

"You knew _he_ was going to be coming here?!" Bakura demanded angrily. "And you didn't tell us?!"

"Why is he going to school anyway?!" Yami went on. "He should be in an insane asylum, not a public school!"

"I'm trying not to kill you, Pharaoh. Don't push it," Merik muttered, clenching his fists above the table in plain view.

"Wow, Merik isn't attacking Yami on sight. What happened?" Ryou wondered aloud from his position on his yami's lap. It didn't take a genius to know sitting there had been by choice. But Yami suddenly grinned and stared at the new arrival with an odd look in his eye.

"I think I know what it is."

"Ooo, ooo, tell me, tell me!" Bakura pleaded. Yami leaned over and whispered something in his ear and Bakura almost died laughing when he heard. "You _what_?!" he exclaimed, staring at Merik incredulously. He burst out laughing again and buried his face in Ryou's chest.

"Koi, stop it!" Ryou scolded, but once Bakura whispered what was wrong in his ear, he started laughing as well.

Well, as you could guess, Merik was becoming very annoyed with all this. He knew somehow that the reason they were laughing was about him, and he didn't know what could possibly be so funny about him. He was supposed to scare everyone he met out of his or her wits…but that obviously didn't work on the secretary. Maybe he was losing his touch. Or maybe the secretary was just extremely stupid like he thought from the start.

"All right, what the hell is so funny?" he demanded. Bakura smirked and leaned over as if to whisper, beckoning Merik to do the same.

"YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH MALIK!" he yelled cheerfully. Ryou and Yami immaturely broke out into a chorus of "Merik loves Malik" almost as soon as the yami said this, and Yugi stared skeptically at him.

"You do?"

Merik stayed very silent, almost wishing he could turn invisible…though wishing more that he could kill them all. But he couldn't do that if he wanted Malik to like him.

Yugi giggled once and smiled. "Good for you!" Then he started giggling again and couldn't seem to stop. This really got on the yami's nerves; it wasn't wrong to love his hikari…right?

"What is so damn funny about it?!" Merik exclaimed angrily.

"It's just…" Bakura gasped and tried to stop laughing before he went on. "You don't seem the type."

"Neither do you, yet you have your hikari on a leash," Merik countered, trying to pique the other yami at least a little bit. Bakura didn't seem bothered by the comment though.

"Yeah, took a while though." Ryou blushed and looked away as his yami said this. Bakura leaned over him and the table to whisper, "Have you two done anything yet?"

"NO!" Malik exclaimed, having caught the point the white-haired spirit had been trying to make. "I still hate him, for your information! He's only living with me cause he refuses to leave!"

"Ooo, you're living together? First step, that is." Bakura lifted Ryou off of him, much to the boy's displeasure, and stood up. "I can help you if you want."

"Really?" Merik hated having to rely on someone else, especially if that 'someone else' was Bakura or Yami, but if he could get closer to Malik… "Okay."

"Good!" Bakura took a long drink out of a bottle he was holding, slammed it down on the table, and pulled Merik away from the table. "Come on, I'll even show you where your next class is."

Ryou pouted as his boyfriend walked away and decided to pick up the bottle sitting on the table. He took a small sip of it and was instantly on his feet. "Bakura put _vodka_ in his V8?! Bakura, get back here!" And with that he ran off in the direction Bakura and Merik had been headed.

"I guess that explains why he didn't kill Merik on sight," Malik laughed.

"Actually, Ryou told me Bakura thinks he'll get dumped if he kills anyone else," Yami answered amusedly. "Though the vodka's probably responsible for the rest."

"Wonder what'll happen when it wears off?" Yugi said just before a "Gods, Bakura, get off of him!" resounded into the lunchroom. The three began laughing as images of Bakura and Merik flitted through their heads.

"Well, he certainly won't be happy when it does," Malik answered, hoping that it might be enough to get rid of Merik.


	5. Nightmares

Calai'di: Ugh, I really hate that stupid new editing thing did. It was a waste of time, honestly.

Warnings: There's an impression of rape in this chap, but I didn't really have it there or anything.

Arabic:

dalma: dark

laa: no

kiff: stop

min fadlak: please

* * *

Chapter 5: Picking Locks

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---His blood has frozen and curdled with fright,

His knees have trembled and given way in the night…---

Malik was shoved unceremoniously into his soul room for the first time at the age of twelve. There, he got to watch as his yami used his body to strip the flesh from his father's back, which obviously led to the man's death. Then, Malik's memory of watching the event was erased when he was given back control of his body, and he had to watch his father die his gruesome death without knowing who was responsible–a fact that he didn't learn until years later.

Merik figured out how to manifest a form of his own when Malik was fourteen, and their first confrontation was more than interesting....

Malik slumped sleepily onto his bed; it was after lessons, and was now nighttime–or maybe early morning, he didn't know–on the surface. Not that what happened up there had anything to do with _his_ life. His uncle could drag him out of bed at three in the morning or five in the evening; it didn't matter to the Honorary Tomb Keeper. A flame of hatred briefly flared up in his heart at the thought of his uncle, a man nearly as bad as his father had been, as he stood up to blow up the torches lining the walls of his room.

__

"Heh, heh, heh, heh...."

Malik whirled around angrily at the laughing voice. No one was supposed to be in here; no one even knew where this room was. And that laugh sounded so evil and dark...but there was no one else in the room that it could have come from. Maybe ghosts...? He sighed and turned back around–

"Boo!"

The hikari screamed and jumped backward, landing on his back on the bed. That guy had just appeared out of nowhere, right behind him, and his voice sound so cold and heartless. And–Malik's eyes grew wider as he stared–this guy looked just like him, though slightly older and with much spikier hair. But there were the same lavender-colored eyes, the same oddly tanned body...how could someone who looked so much like him sound so evil?

"Wh-who are you?" Malik demanded, mentally admonishing himself for stuttering. "How did you come here?"

The stranger chuckled softly and stepped closer to Malik. "Who do you think I am, Malik? And where do you think I came from, little Tomb Keeper?"

"I don't want to play games!" the hikari said angrily as the stranger stopped right in front of him. He realized that he was still lying on his back and quickly sat up to avoid anything dirty.

"I am your worst nightmare," the stranger replied, leaning over the teen, "and your biggest fear...yet I could be your best friend and greatest ally. _If_ you help me."

Malik shrank back a little, pressing against the wall. "Help you with what? Who are you?"

"I am the one that will kill the Nameless Pharaoh." The stranger smirked at Malik's confused expression and added kindly, "Don't you see, Malik? It was the Pharaoh, the one whom you pray for every day, that has so completely ruined you life. _He_ was the one that killed your father."

Malik shook his head frantically. "No, no, that can't be...."

"Listen to me, Malik!" The stranger's voice was filled with urgency and a trace of anger. "You know that your father's death is _all the Pharaoh's fault_. You've been told this before."

"No, no, I won't believe that...it couldn't be...."

"It was. It's _the Pharaoh's_ fault your father is dead–"

"No, no!"

"–It is _the Pharaoh's_ fault you have lived in this hole your entire life–"

"No, I can't believe that!"

"–It is _the Pharaoh's_ fault you have those tattoos on your back–"

"What?! How–"

"–And it is _the Pharaoh's_ fault Rishid almost died all those years ago."

Malik stared up at his look-alike wide eyed. "How do you know all that about me?"

The stranger smirked and crawled onto the bed, pinning Malik against the wall. "Because I _am_ you, Malik. And you are mine...."

* * *

Merik stood nervously before his hikari's door, a small metal wire held tightly in his hand. Surprisingly, he was starting to rethink what he was about to do; if Malik already didn't trust him enough that his door was locked, how would he ever trust the yami if he picked that lock? But he really wanted to try, to hold Malik in his arms as he slept, to comfort the hikari through any nightmares he might have...

His makeshift lock-pick was already in the lock before misgivings began to form in his mind again. If he did this and gained entrance to the room, would Malik hate him more? He really didn't want that to happen, not after he'd come so far as to get a hug from his hikari just before bed. He didn't know if he could stand it, going back to square one or worse.

His legs trembled slightly and he dropped to his knees, confused as to what to do. If he unlocked the door, he'd make himself very happy, but Malik would probably hate him more. If he didn't open the door, he'd be as unhappy as he was now, but Malik would be happy and their relationship would probably keep improving.

"Aghhhh! Gods–aghhhhhhh! Oh gods, help me! Someone! Min fadlak! Please!"

Merik's gaze snapped to the door, behind which his hikari was yelling and screaming. What had happened to him? No could have gotten into the room; the door and windows were locked. But he had to help his hikari; he'd kill whoever was causing the boy to scream like that.

The lock was picked in an instant, thanks to the lessons he'd gotten from Bakura earlier that day, and he desperately entered the room to find that no one else, besides Malik and himself, was there. Malik was thrashing around, his limbs caught in the sheets, yelling at nobody. But something had to have happened for the hikari to be screaming so.

Merik walked over to the bed, remarking silently the beauty his hikari betrayed even while he was thrashing around, and tried to shake him awake. I didn't work as well as he thought, but the hikari at least stopped fighting the invisible person; his screaming increased however. Merik tried shaking the boy again, but it only resulted in the screams decreasing a bit; Malik was still fast asleep, in the middle of a horrible nightmare by the sound of it.

The yami didn't know what to do; he couldn't think of how else to wake someone, so he kept trying to shake Malik awake. And after several minutes of this, the hikari finally quieted and whimpered softly as he left his dream world. Malik's eyes shot open and Merik saw they were filled with fear and very unfocused as he looked frantically around. He finally spotted Merik and, to the yami's great surprise and delight, rocked into his arms, tears streaming unhindered down his cheeks.

Merik wrapped his arms lovingly around his hikari, rocking back and forth to try and calm him down. And though he knew that reliving the nightmare might hurt Malik more, his curiosity was overwhelming.

"Malik, please calm down," he whispered comfortingly. "Tell me what happened, please, Malik."

"Y-you...b-but...wh-why...?"

Merik hugged him tightly. "Just tell me what happened, Hikari."

"I-it was wh-when we first m-met..." Malik sobbed, "wh-when I-I was f-four-t-teen."

"When I told you that the Pharaoh was responsible for everything?" Merik asked, beginning to remember that night.

"A-and you s-said th-that i-it was h-his f-fault about R-Rishid..."

"Well, it was. If he wasn't around, your life would have been much different."

"A-a-and th-then y-you–"

"Shhh, quiet, Malik. I don't need to know any more." It was true; he didn't need to hear it from Malik because he already knew exactly what had happened that night. That night, Merik had bound his hikari to himself in a way he wished he'd never done, and the poor boy would never be truly innocent again.

"Dalma...laa...kiff..." Malik murmured as he slipped back into his dreams. Merik shook him gently to keep him awake.

"Shhh, Hikari, stay with me, please...you don't need to go back there..."

"Y-Yami, stay with me...?" the hikari whispered, snuggling subconsciously into Merik's chest.

"Well, I–"

"Please?" Malik asked again. Merik got over his initial surprise and agreed, pulling Malik with him as he lay down.

"Good night, Hikari," Merik murmured, holding the teen close.

"Good night, Yami..."

* * *

Malik groaned softly as he woke up, wondering slightly why it was so warm waking up this morning. He could barely remember what had happened earlier that morning except that he'd had a nightmare, one that he never wanted to have ever again. So when he opened his eyes, he did not expect to see that his door was open. Nor did he expect to suddenly notice the tan arm that was lying onto of him.

He turned slowly over to find that Merik was snuggling up next to him.

"Agh! Merik! What are you doing in here?!"

Merik shot to his feet, staring wide-eyed and almost sheepishly down at his hikari.

"I, uh, I...you wanted me to sleep with you!" he answered quickly.

"Okay, let's pretend I'll agree with that. How did you get into my room in the first place?!"

"I, uh, I picked the lock?"

Malik buried his face in his hands, trying to calm himself. He would bet almost anything that it had been Bakura's idea to do that.

"All right," he murmured after a few moments, "_why_ did you pick the lock on my door?"

"Because you were screaming."

Malik's head shot up, surprised. "I was what?"

"You were screaming." Now sure that he wasn't going to get killed for being here, Merik sat on the edge of the bed, still staring at his hikari. "I was outside the door, thinking about whether I should risk picking the lock or not, when you started screaming. You were switching back and forth between English and Arabic for most of it. So I picked the lock and woke you up, and you told me you were having a nightmare about the first time we met. And then you asked me to stay with you."

Malik ran all this through his head. So, it was actually a good thing that Merik had picked the lock on his door? Was that why he hadn't killed the yami on sight for breaking one his most scared rules? He could sense said yami was staring at him apprehensively, waiting for some kind of answer. Which Malik chose not to give.

Instead, he calmly got out of bed, picked out a set of clothes from his dresser–a set which he knew would drive Merik crazy–along with his uniform from the previous day, and walked out of the room. The slam of the bathroom door was soon heard in the distance.


End file.
